Helping Miss Fernandes
by Ajerzaaddict
Summary: When Jellal got himself into another trouble, which was also partly her fault, Meredy decided that Erza was the best person to give him a hand until she found the way to get him out from his predicament.
1. Chapter 1

" _How are you Erza? I hope everything goes well for you. Not that I can say the same for Jellal and me though. Can you come to see Jellal as soon as possible? He's not in a life-or-death situation in case you get worried about his safety, but he does need you by his side in this moment. In fact, I need you too. Please. We are currently staying at…"_

As she employed every means of transportation available to rush to the village where Crime Sorciere was staying at, Erza tried to figure out which could possibly explain why Meredy would so suddenly and urgently ask for her presence by Jellal's side.

 _Does he get seriously sick? Has he been heavily injured? Does he lost his memories again? Is his old suicidal tendency surfacing for some reasons?_

But none of the guesses Erza came up with did any help to ease her worries for Jellal's uncertain circumstances. She couldn't help but question how Meredy could _not tell_ her what exactly had happened to Jellal in her note. If Meredy had, she could have at least focused on thinking ways to help him instead of just being fear for something she didn't know.

But Erza didn't make any complaint to Meredy when she finally met her.

"How's Jellal?" She asked first thing after entering the abandoned farm house picked up by Crime Sorciere as their temporary base. "What happened to him?"

"Erza, listen to me." Meredy took Erza's hands in hers and looked at her gravely, knitting her brows. "Jellal…..he looks different now, and he's stressed out about the change. And it's my fault for what happened to him. But I've already contacted someone who may help him. I just need you to stay with him to make sure that he wouldn't go insane because of the change while I go to find him the solution."

"Meredy, you are scaring me." Did Jellal's face injured so badly while he protected Meredy that it disfigured? Did he try to save Meredy and lose a limb or two as a result? "Just tell me what happened to Jellal or let me see him!"

"Jellal's in that room." Meredy looked to her right. "He…..didn't agree with my suggestion to ask you to come. But I did anyway because I believe that he needs you by his side at this difficult time." She turned her gaze back to Erza, taking a deep breath. "Erza, Jellal…..Jellal…..he…..."

"He what?" Erza asked with a voice louder than she intended to, being on the brink of losing her not too much patience.

"He got turned into a woman." Shutting her eyes closed as if she was unable to tell the truth in Erza's face, Meredy finished the sentence with one breath.

Erza blinked and fell into silence.

"He got…...turned into a…...woman?" When she spoke again, she was too surprised by the reveal to say anything more meaningful other than repeating Meredy's words. "But…but...how?"

"I was experimenting with some magic syrus used for disguise. The mixing went wrong and I was going to dispose them but before I did it Jellal drank it by accident. Then he got turned into a woman and somehow we couldn't change him back with our magic or the syrus. I'm truly sorry."

Erza sighed and her tensed shoulders slumped. She couldn't really blame Meredy for what happened. And Jellal wasn't having any permanent damage on his body, so she felt that she should already be thankful.

"It wasn't entirely your fault. Jellal should have been paying attention to what he drank too. You said you know someone who can fix the problem right?"

"I've contacted the guy who sold me the syrus and explained Jellal's case to him. He said he might help me to produce an antidote if he knew what was in the mixing. Luckily Jellal didn't empty the cup and there's still some syrus left for me to bring it to the guy."

Erza nodded. Whether this guy Meredy mentioned could really produce an antidote to reverse Jellal's change was still unknown at this moment, but at least there was hope. She tried not to think about the possibility of the antidote failing, but she was already counting the names of those who might provide help to Jellal in her head just in case.

"I will stay here with Jellal. You should get going now to meet the guy so you can bring the antidote back as soon as possible."

"Thanks Erza. I will pack my things now and go. It should take 2 to 3 days."

"Be careful on your way. I will do my best to keep Jellal sane while you are gone."

Meredy smiled for the first time since Erza met her. "I trust you will." She then turned to face Jellal's room. "Jellal! Erza's here and I will be away for a few days to get you the antidote!"

There was a moment of silence before an unfamiliar and small voice replied "Okay" from inside the room.

Looking back at Erza, Meredy squeezed her hands once. "Go in to see him."

Erza nodded. Meredy then let go of her hands and left the redhead alone as she went to pick things for the trip.

Erza breathed deeply before walking to Jellal's room. Knowing that the physical change had stressed Jellal out, she couldn't help but feel a little bit anxious about going to discover his new female look with her own eyes. But it was not like she wasn't slightly curious to find out either. Would he look gorgeous as a woman, just like how he looked handsome as a man? She stopped in front of the door and knocked.

"Can I come in now, Jellal?"

From inside the room came some rustling noises. When those died down, quiet and slow footsteps followed.

Erza jumped a little when the door opened with a crack. She restrained herself from impatiently pushing the door to go inside to meet the man who was making her worried, but clasped her hands together tightly in front of her and stood still, waiting for him to feel ready to reveal himself to her.

A few seconds of silence passed, then came a deep sigh, before the door separating her from the man in trouble finally being pulled wide open.

Erza held her breath when her gaze crossed with Jellal's. His irises were still the brightest hazel she had ever seen in any person's eyes; and his long eyelashes which had made her feel jealous sometimes were as luscious as she always remembered. His hair was blue like the sapphire as usual, soft looking and didn't grow over his shoulders. Her gaze then traced the unique intricate dark tattoo began from his forehead, went down to his right eye and ended just above the corner of his lips; a presence which made her feel less nervous for it was a solid reminder that something essential about Jellal would just never change.

But his lips, which were now pursed in a straight line, looked fuller than they used to be. The prominent angles which once defined his jawline had turned smooth, which gave his jaw a much softer line. The front of his neck looked flat and smooth as his adam's apple was now almost invisible to her eyes.

"Sorry for troubling you to come." Jellal murmured.

His new high-pitched voice brought Erza's eyes back to his face.

He clearly looked tensed since he was clenching his jaw now. But he also looked…...pretty. Not in a cute but in an elegant way. He still looked like the Jellal she knew, just with the feminine facial features now. He kind of reminded her of those male characters in the few shoujo comics she had read.

"No, not trouble at all." Erza smiled softly at Jellal making sure that her response wouldn't make him feel ever more nervous. "Would you like me to come in, or would you like to come out? I don't think it's wise for us to stand here and talk."

"Come in. The bed is in a better conditions than the chairs in the living room to sit on. Even it's only a little."

As she followed Jellal to go inside the room, Erza glanced at his back. He was wearing the long black cloak he usually wore to hide his identity when he went outside, which shielded his transformed body from her eyes.

She sat down on the wooden bed which lined up against the wall opened with the only window in the room, as indicated by Jellal. Raising her head, she watched him taking a step back from her before sitting down too at her right side, keeping an arm's length from her.

He didn't turn to look at her properly but stared at his hands rested on his knees.

She didn't need to ask him to know that such radical change to his body, despite only temporary (hopefully), must have made him feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. Her hand reached out, holding one of his. His hand was still larger than hers and felt rough against hers.

He finally turned his head to search for her face.

"I know this must be hard on you. But it's only temporary. And you've been through circumstances much harder than this." Like when they were slaves in the tower; like when he was in the jail waiting to be executed. "This will soon over when Meredy come back with the antidote. And if needed, I also know a few people who may of help."

Jellal gave Erza a small thankful smile, one looked slightly bitter too.

"You're right. And it's good to know that there's a contingency plan in case the antidote disappoints us. Thanks, Erza. And sorry for making you worry."

"No more apologies, Jellal. I didn't come here to make you feel guilty. I'm only here to help. If you feel sick or anything, promise me that you will tell me so we can try to find ways to make you feel better."

Jellal twisted his hand in Erza's to allow its fingers to intertwine with hers, and Erza returned the gesture by tightening up her fingers to clasp their hands together firmly, giving him the comfort he was seeking from her.

"I feel…..not being myself, as if I'm being trapped in another person's body. Every movement of my body feels alien to me. Not to mention the discomfort of having an important body part missing from you." Jellal averted his gaze from Erza as his face turned red. "But all the while gaining some unwanted extra weight on your chest which is heavy enough to give you sore back." _And gives you indecent thoughts too_. He kept the last part unsaid feeling ashamed of his pervert mind.

Erza glanced at Jellal's chest with curiosity dancing in her eyes. His cloak did a perfect job in hiding the outline of his newly grown breasts.

"I know the kind of sore you feel." Erza couldn't stop her face from getting hot for asking her coming question. "Do you wear a bra?"

Jellal flinched and his face grew even redder.

"N-no." He admitted, turning his head away from Erza slightly.

"Take off your cloak, please, Jellal?" Erza asked flatly, almost as if she was giving out a demand, doing her best to not sound either embarrassed or excited about the suggestion she was going to make. "Let me have a look at your cup size and get you a fitting bra to wear. Something that can support the weight of your breasts to lessen the sore you feel at your back."

"That's not necessary." Jellal replied without a second's delay, facing Erza again. He didn't know which idea scared him more, the one of wearing a bra acting like a real woman, or the one of allowing Erza to examine his female body with eyes.

"Why? There's nothing wrong with doing something just to make yourself feel a bit more comfortable to live with the changes of your body. Let me help you, please, Jellal. And be assured that I'm very good at making guesses at cup size with my experience of living with girls."

"I don't have any doubt in your…...experience." Jellal forced himself to not try to imagine what Erza did in the female dormitory with other girls to become good at what she claimed she was. He didn't want to get excited with this body. Not at all. "I just…...I can't even look at my body without feeling awkward. I don't think it's a good idea to let you see _this_ body, Erza. I'm sorry."

Erza placed a finger on Jellal's lips. "No apologies, remember?" She looked at him tenderly. "I will not judge you, I promise. Just close your eyes and take off your cloak, Jellal, and pretend that I'm not here."

Jellal stared at Erza, face expressionless.

"Okay." He finally agreed after a moment of hesitance. He couldn't bring himself to reject Erza again seeing her sincere face.

He retreated his hand from Erza's and stood up. With a breathy sigh, he closed his eyes. His hands came up to unbutton the cloak from the front, shaking ever so slightly when they pulled the cloak wide open until it fell back and dropped on the floor.

Underneath the cloak, he was wearing his usual black sleeveless t-shirt. Only that it now looked too tight on him as his new plump breasts stretching the materials to its limit, showing off their shape and tips. The pants he wore was secured around his waist with a leather belt. Thought it was evident that they were a little bit tight around his now wider hips while the trouser legs were a little bit loose around his now less muscular thighs.

Despite the unfitting dressing, there was no denial that Jellal's female body was curvaceous and would be desired by both men or women, Erza mused. She had planned to guess his cup size with her eyes, not having any measuring tape in hands. But now, she felt tempted to touch him, holding his breasts in her hands to measure their size. The thought made her feel hot inside. It was strange. She was never one to get aroused by women's body. No. She swallowed thickly. Using hands would be more accurate than merely using eyes to get the right size, that was the only reason why she wanted to touch him, she told herself.

But she would hate to make him feel more uneasy than he already was.

Pushing aside the unneeded want with will, Erza took small steps surrounding Jellal with one hand under her chin. She listened to him breathing deeply as she scrutinized his figure from front to back with only her eyes, before deciding that she should get him a bra of her cup size but with a bigger band size.

She picked up his cloak on the floor and grabbed his wrist to place the piece of clothing in his palm.

"I'm done."

Jellal wrapped the cloak around himself before opening his eyes.

"I will go shopping for some suitable clothes for you at the nearby town. And maybe get us some more food too. I'll be back before sundown."

"Thanks, Erza." Jellal didn't miss the concern in Erza's eyes as she looked at him. "I'll be fine by myself."

 _As long as there were no dark mages or rune knights coming out of nowhere to attack me_ , he thought, because he wasn't so sure about his ability to fight now. Since he had turned into a woman, he strangely felt that he was losing some of his control over his magic. This was truly something which made him felt insecure more than anything else. But not wanting to make Erza worry more, he decided not to mention the issue. _I can always run and hide to avoid direct confrontation with enemies_.

To Jellal's relief, two hours passed peacefully before Erza came back from her shopping trip. But when Erza handed him the bag of clothes she bought, he didn't take it and stiffened, looking remotely horrified. Did he _really_ have to wear a bra?

None of his reactions got passed Erza's eyes.

"I thought it would be good to get you something less restrictive, comfortable to wear." Erza said as she picked clothes out from the bag. "I bought you a set of sweatshirt and sweatpants, and also two sport bra. All these are made of cotton, soft and flexible."

The sweatshirt and sweatpants were grey in color while the sport bra was black. Nothing looked too feminine. And the idea of putting a sport bra on his body was certainly less embarrassing than the one of wearing a bra made of lace and silk and ribbons. Feeling calmer now, Jellal gathered all the pieces of clothes from Erza.

"I'll get change now. Thanks a lot, Erza."

 _For being so caring and considerate._

"Wait Jellal." Jellal stopped and raised a curious brow at Erza. "Just in case, I brought you women's briefs too. See if you would like to change into them as well."

Silently, Jellal grabbed the black underwear from Erza and quickly entered his room. Since he had already accepted the bra, there seemed to be no reason for him to not accept the briefs too. His missing manliness between his legs wouldn't come back just because he insisted on wearing his own underwear anyway.

He prayed once again that Meredy could come back with a workable antidote as soon as possible.

* * *

A/N: Genderbend is not a theme I'm very interested in writing. But someone here at fanfiction was persistent in asking me to give it a try. I gave in and decided to challenge myself, and this is the outcome. I only wrote female!Jellal but not male!Erza because being a woman myself, I feel easier to imagine Jellal's feelings of living with a woman body.

Genderbend can be fun because being changed into the opposite sex is certainly awkward and embarrassing. But making fun of Jellal or ridicule him is never something I like to do, and I tried my best to avoid that in this fic. And in my opinion, Erza's a kind-heart person who will never make fun of other's misery. So she will not intentionally do something to embarrass Jellal just for fun, when he needs help. I hope you like how I handle the genderbend theme so far, and that I have written them in character enough.

I'm going to focus on writing something for the upcoming Jerza lovefest on tumblr, so the next update and the last chapter won't be up too soon.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: To everyone who followed and favorited this fic, I offer my sincere apology for the serious delay in the update. I worked on the Jerza lovefest then the 12 day of Jerza and got caught up in work and travel.

I had wanted to finish this in the 2nd chapter. But I figured that if I put everything in this chapter, it would probably take me another month or even more to update this fic. But I want to let readers know that I'm not giving up this fic. So I decided to post what I have written and I will finish this in chapter 3 instead.

* * *

Closing the door behind him, Jellal leaned against its wooden surface and stared at the bra and the briefs placed on top of the sweat suit in his hands. _These really aren't that bad. It's Erza who picked them specially for you. Be thankful._ Accepting his fate with a deep sigh, he walked to the bed and put down the clothes before beginning stripping.

His gaze naturally landed on his round breasts once he took off his t-shirt, and lingered on them longer than he wanted to admit while he once again tried to make sense of how his toned chest had grown into its current shape. Without him realizing, his right hand came up on its own to hold one breast in its palm; its fingers squeezed the mound of flesh gently. The feeling of its' softness in his hand was not totally unfamiliar, and he conjured up the scene of him groping Erza's breasts covered in yellow swimsuit by accident. But kneading his own breast was still a different experience. It wasn't anything which made him feel physically uncomfortable. On the contrary, a mild pleasurable sensation had been sparkled over his skin from the touch of his hand.

Against his better judgement, Jellal took his other breast in his left hand and squeezed, stopped only a few seconds later when he caught his action in the mirror hanged on the opposite wall from the corners of his eyes. The curiosity he had been suppressing escaped his grip, and he turned and came face to face with his reflection in the mirror. Although the glass was covered with scratches, some of them deeper and more visible than others, it didn't prevent him from having a full view of his bare body. He had been avoiding looking at himself in the mirror or at any reflective surface to see how he looked with a feminine face and a female body since the accident happened, a passive act of trying to deny the unwanted change had ever happened. His eyes widened as he stared at the person whom he should know from head to toes yet looked totally foreign to him now in the mirror.

She seemed to have become shorter than her previous self. Her once muscular body had become slimmer and thinner. But the well-defined lines and shape of her arms, shoulders and legs proved that they were still firm and well trained, and her six-packs abs were now much less evident than before but they were there. His eyes strayed over to the meeting point of her thighs but fear and embarrassment struck him before they could observe that private part of her body in detail, and they quickly looked up. The sight of her hands groping her large breasts entered his view. It could have been enticing to see, if it wasn't for the fact that _this lady_ who got such a splendid body which could made men worship and women envy, was actually _him_. He growled lowly; his hands freed his breasts and went up to ruffle his hair in a frustrated manner.

Pleasuring himself with his own hands had not been an issue for Jellal before. He was a grown man with needs, and who needed release especially when he was under immense pressure and felt distress. It was his best choice when he could not bring himself to just go fuck a random whore who sold their body to whoever was willing to pay. Certainly, having transformed into a woman had made him feel really stressful, which had also intensified his desire to find release. Yet, when he saw the way he touched his female body in the mirror, it unsettled him. He was having this illusion that he was harassing a stranger. The feeling that he was being trapped in a woman's body that didn't belong to him flooded his senses.

"This is insane. Absolutely horrible." Jellal mumbled irritably and his hand reached out to snatch the clothes on the bed.

The bra and the briefs fitted his new body perfectly and were in fact soft and comfortable to wear like a second layer to his skin. The sweat suit was slightly loose that the lines and shape of his body were not evident to see under its' fabric, and allowed him to move without restraints. Erza always knew what was the best for him, and he once again admired her ability in reading him like an open book.

The last piece of clothes left on the bed was his cloak. He stared at it for a long moment while considering if he still needed it. He finally gave in to his uneasiness with his new body, wrapped it around his body before leaving the room.

Erza was pacing in the living room while waiting for Jellal to get change, considering what other things she could do to help Jellal to cope with his change until Meredy came back with the solution. She swore if the solution didn't work, she would go to anyone who might know how to dispel the effect of the magic syrus and would do anything to get the antidote for Jellal. She wouldn't leave him to suffer on his own, even he demanded her to.

Her pacing came to a stop when Erza heard the door to Jellal's room being opened. Her eyes lit up with a glint of expectation as she couldn't help but want to know if her choice of clothes fit for Jellal. But they dimmed when she saw that he had put on his cloak, that she couldn't even tell if he had changed into the clothes she bought him. She figured that he was still embarrassed to let her see his woman figure. She wasn't upset with him wearing the cloak, but was worried that she had picked something unfit and he disliked.

"So, how are the underwears and the clothes? Are they fitting or not?" She tried to sound light and could only hope that Jellal didn't notice the tightness in her voice. She also suspected that Jellal wouldn't say anything negative, but she still felt obliged to ask.

"They do, and are comfortable to wear. Thanks, Erza." His smile was timid, and genuine. She was relieved.

"No problem. I'm going to prepare dinner for us now." Erza walked to the table for the bag filled with food she bought from the town. "I hope you are fine with fishes and potatoes."

"I'll help."

Erza's gaze turned back to Jellal. "Don't be worried. It isn't something uncommon for me to cook in the wildness because jobs always required me to travel through forests and mountains. I can handle our dinner on my own just fine."

"I know you can." Jellal said softly but firmly. "But do let me help please, Erza. Although the change of my body has created some serious problems for me, it doesn't immobilize me. I don't want to just sit here doing nothing and to wait for you to serve me everything when I can contribute too."

"I see." Erza smiled gently at Jellal; her stance softened. Feeling useless was a terrible feeling, that Erza could easily related to. "Can you help set up the fire first?"

"Of course. We should do cooking in the front yard. The stove in the kitchen is broken and out for use."

Erza nodded her understanding. "I'll join you in a few minutes."

Inside the house Jellal had put up several mini lighting lacrima to brighten up the house, but outside the sun had already sunk that it was dark. He called his fire magic and was relieved that it worked just like before when he saw flame dancing above his fingertips. But it wasn't easy to make the cooking fire when his cloak had turned into a hinderance to his movement. He took off the cloak and sat on a rock as he burnt some branches with the fire borned from his magic.

When Erza came out to join Jellal, the cooking fire was already glowing and burning steadily. She looked him up and down seeing that he wasn't wearing his cloak anymore, before smiling and taking a seat by his side. She had skewered the fishes and potatoes on wooden spits. Jellal took one from her and they roasted the food over the fire.

None of them spoke, but they didn't mind the silence fell between them. It was a peaceful and a pleasant one as they relished in the rare company of each other. The only sounds they could hear were the cracking of the burning branches, the rustling of tree leaves in the night breeze and the buzzing of the insects hid under the ground or in the woods.

"I think the food is ready." Jellal was the one who broke their silence after a while. "The fishes smell good."

They took the chance to update each other on their recent lives while having their dinner. Having Erza by his side, seeing her smile, hearing her voice, chatting amiably with each other, made Jellal loosen up and forget his misfortune for the time being. And they only ended their conversation and went back into the house after the fire died out.

The room Jellal had occupied before was the only one in the house and where he and Meredy had slept in the nights before. They always chose to sleep in close vicinity with each other no matter they were out in the wild or temporarily settled down at an establishment. It was to make sure that they would have each other's back in case anything bad happen. You never knew who was after you trying to take your lives when you were both fugitives and the common enemy to all dark guilds.

There was no difference when his company had changed to Erza now because his identity hadn't changed.

"It's a bit risky to sleep on the bed because its' wooden frame isn't really in a good condition due to erosion. So we have to sleep on the floor. I'm sor-" Jellal swallowed the word when he saw Erza raising an eyebrow at him and remembered her "no apologies" request. "Do you have a blanket or a sleeping bed with you?"

Erza stretched out her arm and in a flash of light, a blanket appeared in her hand.

They slept back to back with an arm's length between them. Erza had spent nights in worse places before during some of her missions, which had yet to cause her much trouble in getting sleep. But the combination of hard and cold floor, of soft moonlight spilling in from the window, of cool night breeze caressing her skin, and of sleeping by Jellal's side, had somehow revitalized her memory on her time enslaved in the Tower of Heaven, which made it hard for her to pacify her mind.

Jellal didn't have better luck than Erza in falling asleep; although it was for completely different reason. He was painfully aware of the existence of his breasts which had been sandwiched between his arm and the floor and been mashed together when he was lying on his side. He wasn't sure if sleeping on the side had caused Erza or other women sleeping problems, but he certainly though the pose was hardly a comfortable one for him to sleep in now with the two mounds of flesh he wished he could take off from his chest. And he didn't need to try to roll onto his front to know that to sleep on his stomach would be worse because pressing both breasts against the hard floor would certainly only bring him more pain.

That left lying on his back the last option he had for trying to sleep a little bit more comfortably. So Jellal did, and unexpectedly caught the sound of Erza sucking in a breath when he turned his body, as if she was startled by his movement. His eyes slid open and glanced to his side, meeting Erza's. He couldn't help but wonder how long Erza had been watching him.

Instead of questioning Erza about her behavior, Jellal asked with an apologetic smile, "This kind of wooden floor is too hard and too cold to sleep on, isn't it?"

Erza parted her lips, ready to tell Jellal that although he was right about the floor, what truly kept her awake was the memory of her past in the Tower. But instead of words, a quiet sigh came out from her mouth. She didn't want to bring up something unpleasant, troubling Jellal further in addition to the problem of his body he was facing now. She shook her head.

"The floor isn't that bad to sleep on."

Jellal eyed Erza thoughtfully. Her hesitance in answering him had not gone unnoticed. He could tell that there was something on her mind; something she decided better not to tell him. He wanted to find out what it was bothering her, and thought he knew the answer too.

"Then it must be me that keeps you awake."

"It's not you." Erza's voice was as gentle as the night breeze kissing her face but also certain. Her hand reached out for Jellal's that was close to her, touching his fingers. "Jellal."

"What is it, Erza?"

"Would you mind if I sleep closer to you?"

Erza's voice was barely audible, but Jellal heard her words and also the thin anxiety coated her voice. Wordlessly, he took Erza's hand in his and pulled lightly.

Taking the hint, Erza leaned towards Jellal, wrapping an arm around his as she rested her forehead against his shoulder.

"Thanks."

Jellal wondered if Erza could hear his racing heartbeat when she was this close to him. He recalled a time in the past when she would hug his arm in a similar way when sleeping to seek for the sense of security. The memory gave rise to a dull pain in his heart, but he also couldn't help but feel content that he could still provide Erza some comfort when she felt weak.

With his sense of protectiveness surging, Jellal inhaled and exhaled with a slow and regular rhythm, taking his mind off his heavy breasts as he focused on staying calm in order to not disturb Erza in her sleep. And soon, he relaxed and fell into a peaceful slumber too.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'm a liar. I didn't finish this fic in chapter 3. I have never planned this to be this long. It seemed that I easily got carried away when writing this fic.

And I just realized it's almost a year since I posted chapter 1. I'm really sorry for this extremely slow update.

To everyone who has expressed interest in this fic, my heartfelt thank you for your support and patience. It means a lot to me, really.

* * *

When Jellal gradually regained his conscious from his sleep but still wasn't awaken enough to open his eyes, there were several things he could sense. Bright rays from the morning sun were kissing his eyelids through the curtainless windows. The short strands of his hair was wavering ever so lightly when chill breeze blew past him. Chirps from different birds he wouldn't know the names were hitting his eardrum, some louder and closer while some quieter and farther, waking him up further.

He inhaled deeply, feeling a weight that wasn't exactly heavy but neither light enough for him to ignore completely resting firmly on his chest. He wanted to rub his eyes, but his fingers were tangled up in something soft and smooth and _felt like home_ that they refused to move.

Jellal blinked lazily for a few times before finally opened his eyes fully, finding focus. The greeneries outside the windows came into his sight first, before something red drew his attention away. Gazing downward, he saw the top of a red head, and realized that the weight on his chest came from Erza pillowing her head on him. He raised his head a little to get a better look at their sleeping poses. Somehow along the night, Erza had given up on clutching onto his arm in favor of draping her arm over his waist. His hands, without him remembering moving them, one had ran into Erza's hair while the other had found a place to rest on her upper arm.

Reasoning with himself that he was only afraid that moving his hands away would wake Erza up accidently but _not_ wanting to enjoy the contact longer, Jellal allowed his hands to stay where they were as he tilted his head a little to the side to look at Erza's sleeping face. He wondered what she was dreaming that made her draw her brows together, and wished that he could smooth the faint wrinkles appeared on her forehead.

Jellal laid his head back down on the folded cloak he used as his pillow when his neck felt tired, but kept his gaze gulp to Erza and watched the way her head resting on his chest rose when he inhaled and fell when he exhaled. He remembered how he had dreamed of being hugged by Erza and falling asleep on her breasts for more than a few times. Who would have thought that there would come this day when it was _Erza_ who got the opportunity to _sleep on his breasts_? It was another unusual thing he experienced since he had been turned into a woman. But this one was not anything unpleasant.

With Erza by his side, it was peace that Jellal found. The pathetic state he was currently in only became more tolerable because Erza was here to support him. He was too stubborn at the beginning to turn down Meredy's suggestion of asking Erza to come to accompany him. If he had been left alone while waiting for Meredy to get the antidote, he could only imagine that a day would have felt like a year long, as he tried frustratingly and helplessly to live normally with his new body while imagining the worst scenarios to make himself more miserable. He owed Meredy a thank you and also an apology.

Jellal closed his eyes again, not really had the intention to go back into dreamland, but was only hoping to relax and relish the rare closeness Erza and he shared while he waited for her to wake up naturally. He wanted Erza to get all the rest she needed after all the travelling she did to come to him and taking care of him. He willed his body to loosen up and to not move to not disturb Erza in her sleep, except that he couldn't stop his fingers from swirling the end of Erza's strands around them.

But it was not like Erza could feel Jellal's fingers playing her hair anyway; his gesture too small and too gentle for her to notice in her sleep. She was also completely oblivious to the touches of his hands on her skin, or the way she cuddled him and slept on his chest. She was too occupied in her dream. In her head, she was trying to buy a slice of strawberry cheesecake from her favorite bakery but to her dismay, it had been sold out. She went to a different shop, but encountered the same result. She ran around in Magnolia, visiting every bakery shop she knew to exist, but none of them had any strawberry cheesecake left. She was angry, disappointed, and unable to understand why all the bakery in the town had conspired against her.

Erza balled her fist, grumbled lowly, and breathed in deeply before she woke up from her unpleasant dream. Her eyelids still felt heavy and her brain was still slow in processing the reality. For a moment, she thought that she was at Fairy Hills, having a sleepover in Juvia's room and cuddling up to the water mage in her bed. But then she thought the bed she was sleeping in now was too hard to be Juvia's. No, she had been sleeping on floor board last night. And with Jellal by her side.

Her eyes opened wide. Not knowing if Jellal had waken up or not, Erza pushed herself up with the slightest motion. Her hair formed a curtain at her side blocking Jellal's face from her view, while her gaze fell on Jellal's breasts and her arm across his waist. She had never been shy with physical contact with friends, no matter boys or girls. But there were always exceptions when it came to Jellal. Even though cuddling with Jellal in bed was something Erza had dreamed of, she suddenly felt embarrassed that she had actually treated him as her body pillow and on top taken advantage of his breasts which were a problem he was facing now.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her hair, she slowly turned to the side to look at Jellal. Jellal was looking at her too, and wearing a faint smile on his lips. "Morning, Erza."

"M-morning." Erza raised to a sitting position and shifted back a little bit to leave some space between Jellal and herself. "I'm sorry. I have no idea how I ended up sleeping on you. I hope I didn't ruin your sleep."

"You didn't." Jellal smiled. "And you need not feel sorry about sleeping on me." He got up and turned his face away from Erza as he picked up his cloak from the floor, before adding in a whisper. "I don't mind."

Erza could still hear Jellal's words. Her face felt warm. She couldn't help but wonder if Jellal meant he actually liked her sleeping on him or he just wasn't bothered by it at all when he said "I don't mind". And she wasn't sure what was appropriate to say in response to his statement. Or it might not be necessary for her to say anything back.

"You are fine with not putting on the cloak?" She asked with concern when seeing that Jellal had placed the cloak on the bed, and took the chance to change the topic of their conversation.

Jellal stiffened, before turning around to face Erza. "Do you think I should?"

"If it makes you feel safer, then yes. I know the change is uneasy to deal with. But just know that it doesn't make your body a shame that needs to be hid from your own eyes or from mine."

Jellal's stance softened. "I know you won't see me with judging eyes. I'm trying to be rational. With the cloak or not my body won't change back until I have the antidote. And it isn't exactly comfortable or convenient to wear it all day long."

Erza nodded approvingly, feeling glad that Jellal had displayed more positivity than the day before. "Anything you feel comfortable with doing."

Erza rose to her feet and called her magic to get change into her daily armour. Before Jellal could consider looking away from her naked form in her process of change, she had already finished changing. With a smile that spoke of his admiration for her magical ability, Jellal opened the door for Erza to go into the living room before following her steps.

"Do you have any plan for today?" Erza asked Jellal while she was munching the mixed berries muffin she bought from her shopping trip yesterday. Strawberry cheesecake would be her number one choice but without a proper refrigerator she had to accept the second best she could find. She remembered her dream and thought it was no coincidence

"Not really." Jellal answered as he took another bite of the chocolate muffin, before smiling a little bitterly. "The reason Meredy and I are here is that we heard that an escaped former dark-guild leader is trying to recruit new members in this area. We've planned to do a search to verify the rumours. But with my current state I don't think it's a good idea for me to do the search now as originally planned."

"It's not." Erza agreed. She could see that trying to stay positive and to adjust to the changes of his body until the antidote arrived had already exhausted Jellal. It would be dangerous for him to continue his dark-mage-searching job when he couldn't focus his mind. "But not that you can't go out at all."

She didn't want him to stay inside the house all day doing nothing but to worry about what if he could never change back.

"I plan to do my routine morning jogging. You can join me. Exercise helps releasing stress."

Jellal wasn't sure if he would really feel relax to do exercise with a body he wasn't familiar with anymore. But Erza invited him with good intention. And did he really want to pass any chance of spending time with Erza before she left his side unavoidably?

"What's your concern, Jellal?" Erza asked when noticing his hesitancy in answering her.

"Nothing in particular."Jellal smiled a little. "I just wonder how it would feel to do exercise with this body."

"So will you join me?" Erza sounded hopeful, but there was a tenseness in her voice that Jellal picked up easily.

"I will." Jellal said firmly.

Erza sighed in relief visibly. "Good. Then let's go after finishing these muffins."

Jellal didn't know if Erza was impatience or hungry or simply loved muffins as he watched her devouring her three muffins in a minute or two. What he knew was that she looked very satisfied like kids who had just tasted their favorite candies. He gave a small chuckle before picking up his last muffin.

"What made you laugh?"

Jellal met Erza's curious gaze and swallowed " _You are adorable"_ with the muffin in his mouth, before his gaze was drawn to her mouth. He touched the left corners of his lips with his index finger and told Erza, "There are some remainings on your lips here."

"Oh." Erza wiped her lips with her thumb and Jellal hoped that it was his finger which did the task for her. "It's clean now?"

"Yes."

"Thanks." Erza smiled timidly; her soft expression made Jellal's heart skip a beat and reminded him the little shy girl she once was when he first met her in the Tower.

"Do I…...still have other things on my face?"

Realizing that he had been staring at her, Jellal teared his gaze away. "No. Your face look perfect."

"This…..this is good to hear." Erza laughed awkwardly and looked away from Jellal too with her face turning into the color pink. She felt stupid to feel giddy simply because Jellal had said something sounding like a compliment to her look.

But Jellal wasn't aware of Erza's reaction. He was stuffing the muffin into his mouth and avoiding eye contact with Erza, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. Only after the muffin had filled his stomach then he looked back at her.

"Anytime you want to go, I'm ready to too."

Erza turned to meet Jellal's eyes and nodded with an approving smile, having calmed down already. "Now is as good as any I guess. Let's go."

They jogged along the stream which separated the village from the woods at the north side. As Jellal had expected, something as simple as running now became unnatural for him to do after his body changed its' shape dramatically. He was hyper aware of the hollowness at his crotch not feeling the occasional rubbing of his sensitive body part against his inner thighs anymore, and also of the extra weight on his chest as his new breasts bounced following every step he took. And he wasn't as muscular as he used to be in his female form now that his move felt less powerful.

The only thing that helped to distract him from all the wrong things about his body was Erza. He let her lead and took glances at her as he ran a few steps away and behind her. She had changed into her running clothes - a pair of capri pants and a sport bra - using requip. The tight outfit showed off her perfect shape, from her ample breasts to her slim waist and from her round buttock to her long legs. He must admit while he found his own female body a lot unformatable to live with, Erza's body was absolutely a fine one to be admired. She had also tired her hair up into two low pigtails. It was a look of her he saw for the first time and he decided that he liked how adorable she looked in such hairstyle.

When Erza changed her pace and ran beside him, Jellal raised a brow and felt a little worried if she had felt him watching her and didn't like it.

"Does jogging make you feel sick or pain anywhere?" Erza asked Jellal. She was only remembering his concern when she asked him to join her. "If you are not feeling well, you must tell me and we will stop."

"I'm not feeling unwell anywhere." Jellal softly said with a small smile on his lips. "Just that I need to pay some extra attention at my running pose because my sense of balance isn't the same as before in this different body. But I have no problem in running more."

"You are not forcing yourself to not worry me, right?"

"I'm not. You can tell if I lie because I'm a bad liar, right?"

Erza couldn't help but chuckle. "Right."

They kept running for another thirty minutes, until the stream led them to a pond under a waterfall and Erza suggested that they should take a break before returning.

They sat down by the ponside, and Erza took off her shoes and dipped her feet into the water. "This feels good." She sighed in delight before looking at Jellal. "You should do this too!"

Seeing no reason why he couldn't, Jellal nodded and copied what Erza did. His tensed feet felt relaxed under the cool water and his sweating body was cooling down slowly thanking to the fresh air around the waterfall. He felt peace taking over agitation in his heart, being embraced by nature's tranquility and having released some of his stress through exercising.

"I want to swim."

Erza's sudden proclamation broke the silence between them and made Jellal quirked a questioning eyebrow at her.

"This pond looks good for swimming and I want to feel the water on my skin." Erza explained with an expectant look in her eyes.

Without waiting for Jellal's further response, she stood up with her body glowing in white light. The light faded in a blink of an eye, and she had changed into a set of white bikini. Her exposed skin seemed to gleam under the sunlight, being covered in beads of sweat.

Jellal swallowed as his gaze moved up from Erza's legs to her torso. Memories of their encounter at a certain waterpark surfaced in his head again, including the feel of Erza's soft breasts against his palms. His mouth suddenly felt dry; his heart skipped a beat when Erza turned to look down at him.

She smirked, before jumping into the pond.

A smile crept onto Jellal's face as he watched Erza enjoying herself, swimming around lazily and occasionally underwater. And he wondered if Erza had always been this spontaneous. He felt kind of envy of her that she could follow her heart and act on impulse to do what came to her mind. He, on the other hand, could never make a move without first considering the possible consequences of his actions. Meredy had said that sometimes he was thinking too much over something simple. But after how he got changed into a woman simply because he hadn't asked if he could drink the liquid in a cup, he guess it was never too much to be cautious.

He sighed, feeling his heart getting heavy again at the thought of the possibility of his body not changing back to normal.

"Jellal! Would you like to join me? It feels great swimming down here!" Erza cheerful voice called out to Jellal, pulling him out from the dark corner of his mind.

"I…" Jellal gazed down at what he wore before looking at Erza. "I'll pass. I can't requip in a swimsuit like you." And he certainly didn't own a piece of woman's swimsuit which he could wear now even he knew requip. He gave Erza an easy smile, not minding to just stay at the pondside to watch her swimming. "I'm fine taking a rest here."

"I wasn't thinking things through before asking you." Erza smiled sheepishly. "Stupid me."

"You aren't stupid. It's not a big deal. Enjoy swimming all you want to; don't mind me."

Being urged by Jellal's words, Erza nodded and turned to swim underwater again.

She mused if it was her friends from Fairy Tail, they probably would jump in the pond simply wearing nothing if they wanted to swim but didn't bring any swimsuit. Clearly Jellal wasn't as carefree as them. On top of that, he wouldn't want to expose his body to others' eyes in his current state, which she understood. Yet, she wondered what it would be like to have Jellal swim naked in his natural-born figure alongside her. It wasn't like she hadn't seen nude men before…...

She re-surfaced above the water when her imagination went wide from innocent swimming to some naughty things couple did she learned from her erotic novels.

She glanced at Jellal, and found him idly looking up at the sky. But he soon became aware of her gaze directing at him and turned his gaze to her too and waved at her. She decided that she didn't want to keep him waiting for her alone anymore.

"You've done swimming?" Jellal asked; his eyes followed Erza's movement as she got out from the pond and sat down beside him. He didn't want to stare but couldn't take his eyes off her. The way her damp hair framed her figure and hung onto her wet skin, and how its bright scarlet color contrasted to her white bikini, had made her look extra sexy in his view.

"Yes. I think it's around time for us to go back." Erza answered, turning her head to face Jellal with a concerned look in her eyes. "Did you get bored waiting for me?"

"No." Jellal didn't think he could get bored when he was around Erza, even he was doing nothing but simply watching her. "I quite enjoyed the tranquility here."

"Good."

Erza smiled, to which Jellal responded with the same expression. No words formed between them as they simply had their gaze fixated on each other.

Erza could feel that she was still being physically attracted to Jellal as she studied his face, even he now looked like a woman instead of a man. He was simply pretty as a woman the same way he was handsome as a man, with his well-defined facial features and beautiful and soulful eyes. And she wondered if his face had gotten closer and closer to hers or if it was only an illusion.

Only when her shoulder touched Jellal's, Erza realized that they had truly been leaning forward to each other, slowly closing the distance between their faces. She jerked backward leaning away from him, being stuck by the sudden fear that she was going to do something stupid and embarrassing.

Jellal only stared at Erza with wide eyes like he was startled by her reaction. But it took him merely a second to realize what they had just tried to do to each other.

"Erza." He could feel his face warming up. "I-I didn't -"

"A-are we leaving yet?" Erza simply wished to move on to any topic other than what had almost happened between them. It was an irrational act driven by desire, and it brought back a bittersweet memory of a similar situation. Without waiting for an answer further, she stood up and changed back to her jogging outfit.

Jellal watched Erza carefully for a moment. Getting that she didn't want to hear any apology or explanation from him, he got up too.

"Yes. Let's go back."


	4. Chapter 4

Returning to the route which had led them to the waterfall, Erza and Jellal both remained silent as they started jogging once again to go back to the village.

Jellal cautiously kept a few steps of distance behind Erza, just like how he did when they first began their workout. Various thoughts ran through his head. He wasn't sure what exactly made Erza suddenly want to get a taste of his lips when she stared at him. But no matter what the triggers were, she must have felt regret for wanting to kiss him, a man-turned-woman who had once pushed her away because he wouldn't dare to accept her love. She didn't even try to talk to him now; although to be fair, he didn't know what to say to her either.

He inwardly cursed himself for his inability to stop Erza and make her see reason before she realized she had acted foolishly and pulled away in embarrassment. His mind had gone totally blank when her desire-filled but honest eyes were all he could see, that left the only thing he was capable of doing was allowing her to draw him in, closing the gap between their faces.

When Erza let her guard down and showed him her soul, he was also in his most defenseless state in facing her.

Jellal lifted his gaze from the ground to Erza who was still running a few steps ahead of him in a rhythmic pace. _We haven't changed the slightest since that time we rolled down the hill and onto the beach, have we?_ He smiled a little bitterly. He couldn't say wholeheartedly that them not changing was something bad. Although the guilty part of him thought that they shouldn't be involved in romance, the selfish part of him had never wanted their mutual attraction to disappear.

"Ow!" Being deeply in thought and having his eyes on Erza only, Jellal stumbled over something on the ground he hadn't seen and yelled in his new high-pitched voice.

Erza stopped in her track and turned around sharply when hearing Jellal's scream. She caught him by the arms before he could fall and bump directly into her.

"Are you alright?"

"I guess yes. I just tripped on something, I think." Jellal looked down to see what was on the ground. "A stick."

"You didn't get hurt or anything?"

"No." Jellal answered, raising his head.

When their gazes locked, Erza couldn't stop herself from admiring how beautiful and wondrous the multi-colors of Jellal's irises truly were. Then she realized that their faces had gotten slightly too close to each other while she tried to steady him, and immediately released him from her grip. "There can be quite a number of unexpected objects on the ground in a forest like this. So you need to be more careful with your steps."

Warmth crept up Jellal's face. Having made Erza remind him like a child because how careless he was? This was embarrassing. He lowered his gaze in shame. "I will try to not let my mind wander off again."

Erza eyed Jellal warily. She bit lightly into her lower lip, feeling anxiety bubbling up inside her chest for the things she was going to say. "I'm sorry if you were distracted because of what happened between us earlier at the pondside. It was my fault for getting to you too close so suddenly and so out of nowhere. I really didn't mean to take advantage of you or anything. I just….." _Found you remaining as attractive as before even as a woman?_ She couldn't speak out the truth to embarrass herself even more and make Jellal uncomfortable. "I didn't know what I was thinking. But I know I have never wanted to make you feel any uneasiness to be around me. Can we leave what happened behind, and continue to work together to face your problem before Meredy comes back?"

Erza knew she was babbling. She was in a panic after she pulled away from Jellal and hadn't thought of saying sorry to him immediately. But she didn't want to keep avoiding him, or to see him trying to keep a distance from her. She was here to help him, not to give him more problems. She had to clear the things that would keep him from approaching her when he was in need.

A gentle knowing smile found its' way to his lips when Jellal finally looked back up at Erza.

"You will never take advantage of me, Erza, no matter how vulnerable I have become." His smile then dimmed a little and morphed into an apologetic one. "I believe _I_ was also getting to you too close suddenly. So I'm sorry too."

Erza shook her head. "No. It all began with me. So don't take the blame from me. Will you forgive my recklessness?"

"Erza…" Jellal signed. "You haven't done anything that required my forgiveness. And what you did haven't made me think bad of you in any ways. It was…...an accident, am I right?"

Erza took a moment to consider Jellal's words, before nodding. "I guess you can put it that way too. Yes."

"I agree with you that it's for the best that we leave what happened behind." Jellal really didn't want Erza to feel troubled any further by her attempt to kiss him and worried that she had offended him. If agreeing with her could make her feel better, he would gladly do it even he still felt partly responsible for what happened. "Please don't feel bad about it anymore."

"And you won't avoid me because of what happened?"

"I won't."

"You will tell me when you need my help?"

"I will."

Erza briefed a sigh of relief, then smiled. "Then let's move on. And maybe we can try to hunt some wild games for lunch on our way back. There's no more food left from my shopping yesterday."

Jellal felt the weight of his earlier self-blame for his failure to resist Erza's temptation lessen when Erza spoke to him with her usual brightness, seemingly unbothered by "the accident" anymore.

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

It took them very little effort to catch and kill a hare when they spot one under a shrub. From her requip space, Erza drew out a rope, using it to tie the hare's legs together before typing its' two ends into a handle to make carrying their prey easier.

"Let me carry it." Jellal offered, being the gentleman he was, and the one who usually did the labour work being the only man in his guild.

"Thanks. But it's fine. I don't mind doing it." Erza gave Jellal an easy smile.

Jellal didn't insist. There was no reason for him to argue with Erza over such a simple task. "Okay. But just know that my hands are free to do the work anytime if you get tired of carrying it."

"Sure." Erza agreed, despite not thinking that she would need to pass the task to Jellal.

Now taking a dead animal body with them, they gave up jogging in favor of walking for the rest of the route. With the previous tension gone, they chatted with each other casually, with most of their conversations started with Erza recounting some interesting things that happened to her being a Fairy Tail's mage. And Jellal would listen intently and asked Erza questions occasionally.

When they stepped into the village again, the sun had also risen to the highest point in the sky. The hare was quickly made ready for cooking in Erza and Jellal's experienced hands, being butchered into several pieces after its' hair and uneatable body parts had been removed. They roasted the meat the same way they did for the fishes served as their dinner last night. With concentration, Erza watched the pink color of the raw meat slowly turning into a darker shade over the fire, swallowing as she felt her mouth began to water and wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue occasionally. Her eagerness to fill her stomach made Jellal smile in amusement. He loved to discover all kinds of expression Erza made, and would make sure to commit them to his memory. These images were the ones that gave him comfort when he missed Erza but knew that he couldn't reach her.

When the meat was finally well roasted, Erza felt so hungry that she swore she could hear her stomach rumbling. She stole a glance at Jellal as she took a large bite of the meat skewed to the wooden spit, wondering if he had heard the sound as well. In similar circumstances but with her team members as her company, she wouldn't care the slightest about them hearing whatever sound her stomach made. But with Jellal, she always easily felt self-conscious about things she did.

Sensing her glance, Jellal looked up and raised a questioning brow, still munching the meat he had just put into his mouth.

Erza flustered a little inside realizing that Jellal had turned his attention to her. "T-this is tasty." She gestured towards the meat in her hands with her chin, trying to direct Jellal's focus on her to elsewhere. "Even without any seasoning, isn't it?"

Jellal eyed the meat in his hands for a brief moment before turning his gaze back to Erza's face.

"Yes, it is." He answered with a smile that was small but nonetheless truthful, before taking another bite of the meat. After chewing for a moment, he opened his mouth again to speak, "Game meat like this is the better kind of food we can find when we live in the wild. But whenever we stayed close to towns or in towns when such need arose, Ultear would visit the market and bring back all kind of fine meat and fresh veggies and ingredients. She actually liked cooking and was good at it."

Erza would have taken Jellal's hand in hers to comfort him when he recalled the disappeared member of his guild, if it wasn't for the fact that her hands were holding the wooden spit and dirty.

"I'm sure it's Ultear's credit that both Meredy and you can stay strong and healthy, feeding you nice and nutritious food whenever she could."

"Yes." Jellal chuckled. "I'm never demanding when it comes to food, as long as my stomach is filled. As for Meredy…..she's more picky than me. After Ultear left, she's picking up cooking when circumstances allow her to."

"She probably wants to follow Ultear's steps, taking up things that are used to be Ultear's job."

"It's what I thought, too. It's her way to try to make Ultear proud even she's not here to witness." He then looked down with his gaze landing on his round breasts. "It was also the reason why Meredy tried her hands on the application of magic syrups. Ultear was a master in disguise magic but Meredy hadn't gotten the chance to learn all its' secrets from Ultear. She was hoping to master the skills in a different way by using magic syrups. I guess she does have some talent in mixing things." Jellal said in a half-serious and half-joking tone, smiling a resigned smile. "Seeing how her formula was able to change my gender."

"She's certainly a smart girl." Erza said with a knowing smile as she recalled how Meredy was able to master lost magic at a very young age. "She's sorry for the trouble her syrus caused you."

"I've never blamed her for what happened. It's indeed my fault for being careless about what I put into my mouth." Jellal heaved a sigh. "I've also put her safety at risk as a result, needing her to travel on her own to get me the antidote. It's never desirable for us to act alone without any backup when there's a price on our heads."

"I understand your worries." Erza said softly, feeling a familiar tinge of pain in her heart as she watched Jellal putting down the unfinished meat to pick up the bowl filled with water, gulping down the liquid as if it could do magic in washing away whatever negative emotions he was feeling inside. How could she not know Jellal's feelings? The dangerous life he was living had inevitably made her worry for his safety too sometimes, even though she knew how powerful a mage he was. The best she could do to relieve the unsettling feelings was to believe in him, in his ability in dispelling any threats to his life with his terrific magics and also in his will to live.

"But Meredy's a capable mage who can take care of herself. You should know it better than I do after working with her as a team for many years. She'll be fine."

Jellal left the now empty bowl with the wooden spit. When he lifted up his face to Erza, his eyes were shadowed with uncertainty.

"Have I been overthinking too much again?"

Erza put aside the wooden spit and closed her hand around one of Jellal's. They could clean their dirty hands later. "There's nothing wrong in caring about your comrades' safety. But when it's the time to do my job, I would appreciate that my comrades can trust in my ability, more than them worrying if I can handle myself. I think Meredy will feel the same."

Jellal allowed himself a small smile. "She did like to protest whenever Ultear and me asked her to do the back up work instead of fighting up front. Sometimes it's easy to forget that she's no longer the young girl when I first met her."

"Meredy will come back safely and with the antidote you need." Erza gave Jellal's hand a squeeze meaning to assure him. "For now, let's focus on things we can do while waiting for her return. How would you like to spend the afternoon?"

Erza picked up the wooden spit with her free hand to finish off the meat while waiting for Jellal to make up his mind about what he wanted to do with his waiting time. She felt him brushing the back of her hand with the rough pad of his thumb while he was thinking and let him.

"I think I will just stay in the house and do another round of study on the materials we've gathered about this dark mage and his former guild to see if we've overlooked any useful information before."

Erza saw no reason in objecting Jellal's suggestion but she also had some concerns on it. "Working is a good way to kill time. But such kind of study requires high level of concentration. It may not be very effective while you are still troubled by the changes of your body. Try not to stress yourself further."

"I know. I just need to do something that will keep me from dwelling on things that aren't in my control, and I thought studying my target again should do. Besides," Jellal gave Erza a quick glance. "I don't want to give you more troubles. And staying in the house should be the safest option that is the least likely to create new problems."

Erza didn't respond right away. She put down the empty wooden spit and picked up her own bowl to drink some water, before speaking her thoughts.

"You are not wrong about staying in the house should be a safer option if we don't want to risk creating more problems. But Jellal," Erza fixated her gaze on Jellal's profile and waited. When Jellal turned to face her at last, she continued. "I will never see it as troubles you give me when you need my company to deal with any problems arise in life."

Erza was glad that her voice came out steady and honest. Jellal thinking that troubling her was a thing he should be worried about might have agitated her a little because she thought given their special bond, he should have already known that she would never view giving him a hand when he needed one as a trouble to her. But she also understood that guilt was a feeling Jellal always had difficulties in fighting off. She needed him to remember that she meant what she said and there was nothing wrong for him to rely on her in his moments of weakness.

Jellal held Erza's unwavering gaze for a few moments, before nodding his acceptance in everything she said.

"Good." Erza smiled, satisfied with Jellal's respond. "I will stay too and help you with the study."

"You don't have to spend the whole afternoon with me. Flipping papers and reading reports are boring works. If there are other things you would rather do, please don't let me keep you."

"My purpose here is to accompany you." Erza said as her eyes caught a few beads of sweat slowly rolling down the side of Jellal's face. They had been staying under the sun to cook and eat for over an hour already. She could feel her own skin sticky with sweat as well, from both the sun's heat and the previous workout. She raised her hand to Jellal's cheek and swipe the droplets away with her thumb before they could slide further down to his chin. "But you are right too. I do have other plan besides helping you with the investigation." Jellal opened his mouth, about to say something, but closed it again when Erza silently asked him to wait for her to finish with hand gesture. "I want to go to the town again to get us food for tonight and for tomorrow. Also I want to get you another sets of clothes and underwear so that you can change out of the dirty and sweaty ones."

"Even if you don't get me new clothes for change, it'll be fine with me. I'm used to…...dress in the same things for a few days, and sometimes even over a week." Jellal felt slightly embarrassed to admit such fact to Erza; even he thought that it wasn't something that would surprise her.

As expected, Erza only chuckled lightly at his confession. "It's understandable when you are on a run and living in the wild. But you aren't in this moment. And you have me by your side now. I will make sure that you have what you need."

"Thanks again for taking care of everything for me, Erza." _Too well for what I deserve to have_ , Jellal added silently in his head. "I hope I'm able to thank you with something…...more valuable, than a simple 'thank you', for the favor you do for me."

"You will figure out the best way to thank me one day. I know you will." Erza smiled, with her gaze softened at the same time. She believed that Jellal actually knew what the best way was already. He just needed to admit it. "But that is something you don't need to be worried about for now."

"You always have faith in me greater than what I have in myself."

"I simply try to recognize your true self who is asleep inside you for the moment. That's it." Erza said gently. She extinguished the fire with the remaining water in her bowl, before standing up and extending a hand to Jellal.

Jellal took Erza's hand, and let her pull him up and lead him back into the house.


End file.
